Newby questions

[Cast10]

Reading tons of info on site. Great help!

Have not melted any lead yet. My main goal is to establish a good powder coated bullet for my 10mm Glock along with a MechTech upper. This is where I’ll start.

I want a bullet to be able to penetrate and expand on a hog. I was going to start with a 175gr bullet and Lyman #2.

Is Lyman #2 ample hardness for my purpose, to start? I don’t want to smelt any mixes just yet. THANKS!

[richhodg66]

Likely won't expand unless maybe if you hit bone. Might not need to anyway. I've just begun dabbling in 100 loading, but it seems there ar eheavier bullets designed with hunting meplats for it.

If you're not going to mix any alloys, how are you planning on coming up with Lyman #2?

[William Yanda]

Offhand, my guess is that #2 might be too hard. Pure offers the best expansion but is subject to leading. Various alloys eliminate the leading, but limit expansion. Check out the Glen Frixell article on alloys. Good Luck.

If you powder coat, leading may not be an issue at all.

[Cast10]

Will check the Frixell article, thanks.
Would purchase Lyman 2 to begin with to get started was my plan.

[Tazlaw]

Welcome aboard.

[Cast10]

Thank you sir.

Just trying to get a handle on all this!

[ACC]

Reading tons of info on site. Great help!

Have not melted any lead yet. My main goal is to establish a good powder coated bullet for my 10mm Glock along with a MechTech upper. This is where I’ll start.

I want a bullet to be able to penetrate and expand on a hog. I was going to start with a 175gr bullet and Lyman #2.

Is Lyman #2 ample hardness for my purpose, to start? I don’t want to smelt any mixes just yet. THANKS!

If you want expansion your mix needs to be in the 10 to 12 hardness. BUT if you are hunting large hogs, say in the 150 pounds and up expansion is not what you need. I hunt only hogs in the 75 to 100 pound range and even then no expansion is needed only penetration.

Hope this helps.
ACC

[45workhorse]

What ACC says^^^^^^^! Got to get through to the vitals.

[Cast10]

My ranch has hogs well over 150. My last big boar was 353lbs. I’m looking for something that will penetrate first. Get into his boiler or neck area behind the ear. Most shots at night. Not always optimal. With @15 hardness, will there be any expansion at all on thick skin?

[megasupermagnum]

No, you will not see expansion with Lyman #2. If you use a nice strong load of something like Bluedot or 800x, you can get around 1300 fps with that bullet. At that speed you may see some with a 20:1 alloy, but it won't be a dramatic mushroom. In the picture below, all three bullets are 20:1 alloy solid bullets (not hollow points). The left and middle are the same bullets, the left obviously not fired. the middle impacted around 1200 fps. The far right is a different bullet, but still cast of 20:1 alloy and hit around 1500 fps. This mild expansion will ensure more than enough penetration. If you want a little more expansion, try 30:1 alloy.

262940

[Jniedbalski]

A good mix I use on my 40 S&w Pistole and carbine is Lyman #2 mixed 1/2 with pure lead. This shoots great for me but don’t know How it will do on a big hog. I use the lee 175 tc with alox or white label 45/45/10 lube. The Lyman #2 doesn't expand much if any at all for me. Also I have never shot a big pig before.

[Cast10]

My plan is to powder coat these. How, if any, will that affect the bullet on impact? I was not planning to quench any.

[megasupermagnum]

My plan is to powder coat these. How, if any, will that affect the bullet on impact? I was not planning to quench any.

I've never seen any evidence that powder coating will effect expansion at all. If you go with a lead/tin only alloy, then it does not matter if you quench or not, they do not harden like clip on wheel weights will.

[brewer12345]

My plan is to powder coat these. How, if any, will that affect the bullet on impact? I was not planning to quench any.

Don't think powder coating will impact terminal performance. What you care about is boolit cohesion/toughness rather than hardness. Hard and too brittle and you run the risk of hitting a heavy bone and having the bullet grenade rather than penetrate. Not what you want for hogs. So if I were in your shoes, I would pick a heavy for caliber design with a big meplat and cast it out of 20:1 or Lyman #2 and let it air cool. There will be enough tin in either one to hold the slug together after impact and if you are powder coating you won't have to worry about leading.

[Cast10]

Thanks for the advice. I’m planning on Lyman #2 to start. May try some 20:1 later. On big hogs, definitely need the penetration. From what I’ve read, Lyman #2 and 20:1 should obturate well with 10mm velocities. Not looking at nuclear, but 1150-1200 would be good from G20 stock. Also a 16” carbine.

[white eagle]

you can buy different alloy's from rotometals
so basically getting a alloy to suit your needs better that #2 would be
say like 20/1 or 25/1 in a 10mm you may want a heavier boolit as well
like a 200 gr slug

[popper]

Probably some Roto antimony alloy and some pure to mix with. 180 to 200 gr TC mould. PC works fine and you don't really need expansion. 170 gr might give longer range but would need optics for it.

[Cast10]

Have looked into some 200’s but want to start with the 175. I want to try and see how pressures work with cast bullets and different alloy. I will probably move to 200 later. Get my procedures down and an accurate load first.

[Cast10]

The G20 is for recovering animals in the sticks. The carbine is setup with night vision and Can shoot out to 150 yds. Have been using 180 XTP’s. Starting point will be the Lee 6 cavity 401-175-TC mold. Will powder coat then.

[popper]

Roto antimony is 3-5% Sb , no tin, much cheaper. I use it for hogs, PC 165 gr ~900 fps. Goes rear to front 150# hog & breaks bones. I do heat treat.
Mould is like Lee 170 in 40sw.

[Cast10]

Good to hear! So if you heat treat what BHN do you end up at?

As a new guy casting, should I depend upon tin for making pour easier? Just trying to figure it out.....

Also, my 10mm 180 XTP loads in G20 are 1180fps; Carbine is 1500fps.

THANKS FOR INPUT ALL!

[popper]

Tin is not needed, good mould venting is. Unknown BHN, just hard enough to be accurate.

[megasupermagnum]

If expansion is your goal, a lead/antimony only alloy is a disaster waiting to happen. Way too brittle. I really doubt you would see any expansion with popper's stated alloy though.

Tin makes casting so much more forgiving, and toughens up the bullet dramatically. I'd use none, or minimal tin for target bullets, but why worry about 1/2 cent worth of tin on a hunting bullet?

[popper]

My 'hog' load is 170gr RD style PB PC HT ~ 3% Sb for 300BO pistol. Was running 900 fps or so but recently upped it to 1400 or so. Got a 150gr GC PC version for longer range or I could bring out the 308W for 200 or longer.